Scatman John

Scatman John (born March 13, 1942 in El Monte , California , † December 3, 1999 in Los Angeles , California), real name John Paul Larkin , was an American musician . He sang and made music in scat and jazz .

Scatman John was a stutterer . His trademarks were his slouch hat and mustache . He became known through his globally successful hit Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) . In all releases, Scatman John mixed his scat singing with europop and dance . He sold over 20 million records.

Life

Beginnings

Scatman John was born John Paul Larkin on March 13, 1942 in El Monte, California . He grew up in El Sereno . Even as a primary school student, he suffered from stuttering because classmates made fun of him and aped him. One started therapy he broke because of feelings of inferiority from; he tried to avoid talking. Larkin began playing the piano at the age of 14 ; this helped him to compensate for his language deficits and to discover artistic abilities.

From 1970 he worked as a jazz pianist, mainly in the Los Angeles area. 1986 appeared his debut album John Larkin ; today only a few copies have survived. It was around this time that his alcohol and drug abuse began. When his musician partner Joe Farrell died of MDS in 1986 , Larkin decided to fight his addiction. With the help of his new wife Judy, he managed to get out of drug addiction.

The "birth" of Scatman John

In 1990 Larkin went to Berlin to further develop his career. Because of the pronounced jazz culture in the city, he continued to play music as a jazz pianist, in clubs, on cruise ships and bars, and later throughout Germany. It was here that he made the decision to include the vocals in his performances, also thanks to the great approval he received for the vocal performance of his version of On the Sunny Side of the Street after the instrumental pieces. At that time, his agent Manfred Zähringer from Iceberg Records in Denmark suggested combining scat singing with modern dance and pop melodies. At first Larkin had doubts about the idea, but BMG Hamburg agreed with the proposal. Together with the songwriters and music producers Tony Catania and Ingo Kays he wrote and produced the song Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) , which was followed by successful titles and albums in the further collaboration.

International success

In 1995 Larkin became a star worldwide. Sales of his single stalled at first, but then it reached number 1 on the charts in many countries; a total of more than 6 million records were sold. Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) remained his greatest success and probably his best-known work overall. It was followed by the single Scatman's World , which could not quite build on the earlier success. However, well over a million records were sold in Europe.

Later came his debut album as Scatman John , which was also a huge hit and sold millions of copies. He started a tour of Europe and Asia. In an interview for his album, Larkin was so fluent that he was asked by a journalist if he invented stuttering just to advance his career. Larkin was shocked, and for the first time he was more ashamed of fluent speech than stuttering.

After the album Scatman's World

In 1996 his third album, Everybody Jam! , which had average success in Germany. In Japan the long player was much more successful than anywhere else in the world. Scatman John became so famous there that Japanese toy stores sold his dolls and his face was featured on phone cards and Coca-Cola cans. The Japanese version of the album contained five bonus tracks with the hit singles Su Su Su Super Kirei and Pripri Scat , which were used by Japanese companies for advertising purposes (e.g. cosmetics). The Ultraman cult wave also tried to get some of the success. In addition, a single called Scatultraman was released; the cover showed Ultraman with a hat and mustache, his signature.

Last years

In 1999 his fourth and final album, Take Your Time was released . Despite health problems, he continued to work on the album. He was later diagnosed with lung cancer and began intensive treatment for the disease.

As a pop star, Scatman John became a role model for people with disabilities. So he got involved with children and with organizations that support stuttering people.

Shortly after the release of his last studio album, Take Your Time , he toured 24 cities in the United States. At the November 26, 1999 concert in Cleveland, Ohio, Larkin collapsed on stage during the show's finale. While Larkin competed against his drummer in a show fight duel, he appeared to faint on stage . Viewers initially believed the collapse was part of the show until it was announced that the show would end due to the Larkin collapse. Larkin was transported to the Cleveland Clinic, where he was stabilized. He returned to Los Angeles the following week . Larkin was diagnosed with cancer that same year, of which he died on December 3, 1999 at his Los Angeles home at the age of 57. His wife Judy, his mother Harriet, and his brother Bill were with him in his final hours. He was cremated after his death, and his ashes were scattered on the sea near Malibu, California.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1995	Scatman's World	DE6 (17 weeks) DE	AT25 (10 weeks) AT	CH4 (16 weeks) CH	-	-
1996	Everybody Jam!	-	-	CH45 (2 weeks) CH	-	-

More albums

• 1986: John Larkin (as John Larkin)
• 1995: Interview CD - Scatman's World
• 1999: Take Your Time
• 2001: Listen to the Scatman (as John Larkin)
• 2005: Eurodance Masters (Event Horizon) (2K1 feat. Scatman John)

Compilations

• 1995: Scat Paradise (EP)
• 2002: The Best of Scatman John
• 2012: Największe Przeboje (Poland)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1995	Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) Scatman's World	DE2 platinum (31 weeks)DE	AT1 gold (15 weeks)AT	CH1 gold (27 weeks)CH	UK3 gold (12 weeks)UK	US60 (13 weeks) US
	Scatman's World Scatman’s World	DE1 platinum (21 weeks)DE	AT4 (16 weeks) AT	CH3 gold (21 weeks)CH	UK10 (7 weeks) UK	-
	Song of Scatland Scatman’s World	DE46 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-
1996	Everybody Jam! Everybody Jam!	DE46 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-
2009	Scatman The Past, the Present, the Future	DE38 (3 weeks) DE	AT53 (1 week) AT	-	-	-	Mark 'Oh feat. Scatman John

More singles

• 1995: Pop Star (Promo)
• 1996: Megamix '96
• 1996: Only You
• 1996: Su Su Su Super キ ・ レ ・ イ (Japan)
• 1996: Pripri Scat (Japan)
• 1997: Let it Go
• 1998: Scatmambo (Patricia)
• 1999: The Chickadee Song
• 1999: Ichi, ni, san… Go!
• 2001: Listen to the Scatman (as John Larkin)
• 2019: Scatman & Hatman (with Lou Bega )

Awards (selection)

Scatman John received several awards for his work around the world, including in Italy , France , Poland and Hong Kong . He has won gold or platinum records in several countries. In Japan he received the award for best new international artist of the year , in Germany in 1996 he was given an echo for Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) as best single national / international.

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Discogs : Scatman John Discography at Discogs. Retrieved April 4, 2010 . 
2. ^ Spiegel Online : Scatman John - Died of cancer at the age of 57. December 6, 1999, accessed January 30, 2020 . 
3. ^ ^{A b c} Rhein-Zeitung : Scatman John has died. December 6, 1999, accessed April 1, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Ellie Weinert: Scatman John To Show US His 'World' . In: Nielsen Business Media, Inc (Ed.): Billboard Magazine . Vol. 107, No. 32, August 12, 1995, ISSN  0006-2510 , pp. 37 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Konrad Schäfers, Jutta vom Hofe, Claudia Mende, Erhard Hennen: Interview with Scatman John. Planet Interview, November 1995, accessed April 3, 2010 . 
6. ↑ Thomas Berger: How to become a Scatman . In: The time . No. 32/1995 ( online ).
7. ^ Spiegel Online, December 6, 1999
8. ↑ a few cool things ›“ Scatman John ”Larkin - John Larkin LP (1986). August 24, 2011, accessed December 25, 2018 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums Mark 'Oh feat. Scatman John
10. ↑ ^{a b} gold / platinum databases: DE AT CH UK
11. ↑ ^{a b} Minnesota State University : Remembering Scatman John Larkin. Retrieved April 4, 2010 . 

Web links

• Scatman John in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Scatman John at Discogs (English)
• John Larkin at Discogs (English)
• Scatman John at Allmusic (English)